The evidence base for policy-making. Held at the House of Commons, London

Jointly hosted by Barry Sheerman MP and Cambridge Assessment, this seminar provided an opportunity to listen to experts who have evaluated the success or failure of recent government initiatives and question them on the broad, high-level principles of what makes a successful initiative. The event - part of a Cambridge Assessment series designed to bring together a wide range of professionals in education to look at ‘big picture’ topics and enable policy makers to access the knowledge of leading experts - is the fourth in the organisation's Parliamentary Research series. Listen to Hilary Armstrong MP express her views in the voxpops podcast. "It is irresponsible not to use evidence-based work and build policy on the evidence that is there..." she said. However, she added a note of caution when asked if "a lot of rubbish" in the form of research had come across her desk while she had been in office. "Yes it did - and still does", she replied.